Alright Boyz, Here We Go! The OFFICIAL Fallout 4 Thread!!!

[Grover]

The Fallout 4 Announcement Has Begun (http://kotaku.com/the-fallout-4-announcement-has-begun-1708434161)

YES.

[lighthousekeeper]

agghh - i still need to finish fallout 3 and then start & finish new vegas.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Run clock run.

Pleasedontscrewthisuppleasedontscrewthisuppleasedontscrewthisup.

[JetsIn06]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Lnn2rJpjar4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Honolulu_Blue]

The trailer looks pretty good. I hope that's some game play footage, because the engine could use a bit of an overhaul.

Despite never finishing New Vegas, I really enjoy these games.

I played a ton of New Vegas and then I gave my character the perk that put all locations on the map. I got totally overwhelmed at that point and then stopped playing. Maybe I should go back and finish it off. I think I was pretty close.

[lighthousekeeper]

The trailer looks pretty good. I hope that's some game play footage, because the engine could use a bit of an overhaul.

Despite never finishing New Vegas, I really enjoy these games.

I played a ton of New Vegas and then I gave my character the perk that put all locations on the map. I got totally overwhelmed at that point and then stopped playing. Maybe I should go back and finish it off. I think I was pretty close.

doesn't seem much different from the previous 2 games though.

[Peregrine]

Looks pretty good - do we have a release date or anything? I like how colorful some of it looked - can't wait till it comes out.

[JonInMiddleGA]

doesn't seem much different from the previous 2 games though.

I hope not.

Nothing else has ever really been as compelling to me as the first two. Flaws & all - and Lord knows they do exist -- they're still as good as gaming has ever gotten to me overall.

[BillJasper]

So when is this coming out? 2017 or so?

[Atocep]

With a reveal like this I'd guess the game will be playable at E3 and they're targeting a fall/winter release.

[Atocep]

That also looks like the skyrim engine which is a little disappointing. I was hoping for a new engine. Not a huge issue at all though. Fallout for me is more about the setting and the writing than stunning visuals.

[Dutch]

Oh lord....

[Umbrella]

This may be the game I have to upgrade my PC for. I don't know what the specs are yet, but my 3 year old laptop probably won't be good enough.

[stevew]

I'm super excited, but I I also remember that I couldn't finish #3 cause my save file was corrupted. At that point I was 70+ hours in.

Then I got #3 again for PC and it took forever to get it to run. Despite all of that I'm in, but I'm praying no glitches and that it won't be on last gen platforms.

[jeff061]

doesn't seem much different from the previous 2 games though.

You say this like it's a bad thing. Updated graphics, new setting(my home!), all I need or want.

[lighthousekeeper]

You say this like it's a bad thing. Updated graphics, new setting(my home!), all I need or want.

how different would post nuclear boston and post nuclear DC be? rubble, burned out buildings, trash

[Dutch]

So basically...Detroit.

[Abe Sargent]

Here we go folks. AYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAyAYAYAYAYAYAyayayyay

[Julio Riddols]

I'm extremely jacked about this.. Looked like an airship in there, and looked like a more technologically advanced area of the country to be in post apocalypse.. This and no mans sky will help determine where my gaming money goes when I finally adopt next gen.

[Grover]

If you watch the trailer closely. You'll see it looks like Fenway has been turned into a redoubt of sorts.

[Atocep]

I'm extremely jacked about this.. Looked like an airship in there, and looked like a more technologically advanced area of the country to be in post apocalypse..


The Institute (MIT) operates out of Boston and has been mentioned in FO3 and NV. Their goal after the war has been to improve on technology rather than preserve it.

[frnk55]

Fucking A. Can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!

[Qwikshot]

Probably purchase this...I'm running out of time for the long sprawling games though, never seem to have enough time.

[sabotai]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/k3IlHBBGCIw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Groundhog]

Saw '11-10' date and wondered how the hell I'd missed the release...... before I remembered your kooky American month/day ordering. :(

[Peregrine]

Pre-load is now available on Steam if you got the game through them. Wow can't wait until Tuesday at 12:01 AM eastern!

Also Launch Trailer is out if you haven't seen it - love the look of the new UI!

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/X5aJfebzkrM" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

[cartman]

A good read on the development of the game:

http://www.gameinformer.com/themes/blogs/generic/post.aspx?WeblogApp=features&y=2015&m=11&d=06&WeblogPostName=the-making-of-fallout-4&GroupKeys=&PostPageIndex=1

[Lonnie]

Cool article. I just bought it and the season pass through Green Man Gaming for 20% off using code SAVE20-NOVEMB-GAMING ... Preloading in steam now.

[frnk55]

Downloaded and ready to go...I wonder if Steam will explode on Tuesday?:D

[sabotai]

Just a few more days until I disappear for the rest of 2015 (at least)...haven't been this excited for a game in quite some time.

[Edward64]

Cool article. I just bought it and the season pass through Green Man Gaming for 20% off using code SAVE20-NOVEMB-GAMING ... Preloading in steam now.

Thanks for the reminder. Just bought it using the coupon and also downloading now.

[jeff061]

Yeah, just picked up on Green Man. Thanks for heads up.

[Radii]

Cool article. I just bought it and the season pass through Green Man Gaming for 20% off using code SAVE20-NOVEMB-GAMING ... Preloading in steam now.

excellent, thanks, did the same for the main game(minus the season pass, i've never played fallout dlc before)

[korme]

PURCHASED

[cartman]

10 hours to unlock time!

[Grover]

I wish I had sick time left. Is tomorrow worth an unpaid day off?

Probably.

[Grover]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/26UDmZRCbm0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Yeesh. Looks like this may be one that you want to hold off a few weeks to allow a patch or two.

Fallout 4Â*Has Lots Of Bugs, Reviewers Say (http://kotaku.com/fallout-4-has-lots-of-bugs-reviewers-say-1741472178)

[Atocep]

Yeesh. Looks like this may be one that you want to hold off a few weeks to allow a patch or two.

Fallout 4Â*Has Lots Of Bugs, Reviewers Say (http://kotaku.com/fallout-4-has-lots-of-bugs-reviewers-say-1741472178)

It's a Bethesda game. If you don't expect crashes and bugs on release you're new to this.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

It's a Bethesda game. If you don't expect crashes and bugs on release you're new to this.

I'm usually one of the types that picks most AAA games up after a couple of months, so you may be right.

[JonInMiddleGA]

It's a Bethesda game. If you don't expect crashes and bugs on release you're new to this.

War is NOT the only thing that never changes :/

[Galaril]

Bummer this just be became a wait a few weeks or month even or two to see if they fix this or if it is so bad to wait for it to drop in price. I was actually thinking of trading in my Witcher 3 , Madden 16 copy that is brand new for this but will hold off.

[JonInMiddleGA]

The full-on showstopper with the elevators is quite disturbing.

[Grover]

Not a killer for me.

The bugs are part of Bethesda's charm.

The elevators is the only real concerning one I've read about.

[Thomkal]

Love the Fallout videos-too bad the games don't draw me in as well.

[frnk55]

It's hard to not watch Twitch now cause I don't want to be spoiled. So I only watch a minute or 2.

[Atocep]

They're usually very quick to patch so I'm really not worried and it's not going to stop me from playing as soon as the game goes live tonight.

When you've spent entire evenings screwing with load order for your 110+ mods just so the game will launch a crash here and there is nothing.

[Thomkal]

Several members of the Yogscast are playing the game already on YouTube if you can't wait a second longer :)

[Atocep]

I'm usually one of the types that picks most AAA games up after a couple of months, so you may be right.

The "you" was meant to be in general, not directed at you.

I think this is the price you pay for massive open world games. Witcher 3 had a ton of bugs and crashes as well. At launch I couldn't play for more than 20 minutes at a time before the game would stop responding.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Good news for the showstopper elevator bug: it appears to be resolved (on PS4 at least, no word of it on XB1 specifically that I've seen) with an installation of the latest console/system patch.. If you're installing tonight, plan to update everything beforehand I guess.

[Groundhog]

Based on my experience with sports titles, I'm going to avoid any bug threads because I find that if I know they are there, I look out for them, and if I don't know about them, I usually don't see them.

Always the risk I'll run into a show stopper, but I get the feeling that I won't mind restarting FO4...

[Peregrine]

What do you guys think of the new system combining skills and perks? Not sure I can get used to it but we'll see.

[jeff061]

Didn't love it, since it's remained mostly unchanged since Fallout 1. But I think it willl grow on me.

[IlliniCub]

I have it pre loaded now. Seems like such a long wait....

[JonInMiddleGA]

Let the XB1 installation process begin

I was somewhere around 50th to leave with a copy, nearly that many more behind me. Game in hand at 12:13am, not bad at all really.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Let the XB1 installation process begin

Give or take, about 35 mins to install.

First game will start about 1:14am. Yeah, assuming all goes well, I'd call that a very successful release night.

[RainMaker]

I'm assuming some of you will be calling in to work sick tomorrow. :)

[Peregrine]

Even better for me - I'm off until Friday night.

[Groundhog]

DAMN YOU STEAM HURRY UP AND DECRYPT

[Peregrine]

Had my first weird bug before I even started the game! At the very start where your character is looking in the mirror he just stayed looking and nothing happened - if I hit ESC I would hear some audio but it never got past that. Started again and all worked fine.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Not much handholding in the first couple of hours (I'm out of the vault, wandering & scavving the first place you go).

But I felt kinda dumb having to google to figure out how to "wait".
So THAT is why there are literally f'n places to sit everywhere in the game.
Doh !

[Groundhog]

Loving it so far. Only bug I've had is when I got my first power suit, I went to fire my weapon, the game kinda hung for about 15 seconds, and then I was teleported a distance across the map...

[Peregrine]

Wow I am super loving this game so far. One thing that took me by surprise in terms of how much I liked it was not having to click to open stuff (like boxes or desks) but instead having it all available on view. Saves an insane number of extra clicks over the course of the game.

[Grover]

Currently installing. Won't be able to play until tomorrow night. So sad.

[BillJasper]

Wife is picking me up a copy on her way to work. Won't be able to play until later this afternoon.

[JonInMiddleGA]

okay, nine hours or so for my first session.

Game feels noticeably harder than I remember either of the others being.
Freakin' Corvega factory should not be tasked at a level this low, although the real problem with it is stray raiders with Bethesda AI playing hide n go seek so the mission is taking for freakin' ever.

The changes that had me concerned have largely been no big deal.
The potential of the settlement system isn't life-changing but it seems pretty darned good, looking forward to seeing it open up more as I progress.

Kudos to Bethesda for a game that had me engaged within 15 minutes.

[Grover]

okay, nine hours or so for my first session.

Game feels noticeably harder than I remember either of the others being.
Freakin' Corvega factory should not be tasked at a level this low, although the real problem with it is stray raiders with Bethesda AI playing hide n go seek so the mission is taking for freakin' ever.

The changes that had me concerned have largely been no big deal.
The potential of the settlement system isn't life-changing but it seems pretty darned good, looking forward to seeing it open up more as I progress.

Kudos to Bethesda for a game that had me engaged within 15 minutes.

So that first factory quest for the Minutemen is as ridiculous as advertised in the reviews I've read

[JonInMiddleGA]

So that first factory quest for the Minutemen is as ridiculous as advertised in the reviews I've read

You mean it's not just that I suck? That's ... comforting, I think.

It's without a doubt the largest & longest battle I've come across in the series with the exception of the stupid bridge at the end of New Vegas. You're simply underpowered for something like that, even if you OCD scavving everything & crafting & all sort of other stuff that might make you better prepared.

I'm 2.5 hours into it & am still trying to find stray raiders.

[Peregrine]

I have to say that so far I'm really liking the new levelling system. It gives you a ton of flexibility and you don't feel that because you're already committed to one thing you have to keep going with it, as you did with the skill system. It's a really nice setup if you want to be a jack-of-all-trades.

[Groundhog]

Kudos to Bethesda for a game that had me engaged within 15 minutes.

Yeah, I think this is the big thing. 15 minutes in, it felt like catching up with an old friend. I could make minor quibbles about the graphics not looking 'next-gen' and some of the animations being a bit stiff/dated, but at the end of the day there's a reason why I'll end up spending god knows how many hours on this as opposed to something like GTA V.

[chinaski]

About 9 hours deep, loving it so far, although the town building and inv management is waay lame imo. You have to drop your junk items to the ground, go into build mode, and then scrap them...guuuuh!!!

[JonInMiddleGA]

About 9 hours deep, loving it so far, although the town building and inv management is waay lame imo. You have to drop your junk items to the ground, go into build mode, and then scrap them...guuuuh!!!

Wait, can't you just stick them into the workbench inventory (assuming you're close enough to the bench to itneract with it) and scrap them directly from there? {trying to remember}

The teenager is playing at the moment & wandering a long way from a bench so I can't just look atm.

[Peregrine]

Yes you can put all your junk into your workshop "system" all at once - go to a weapon/armor/workshop item and do transfer, then press T and all your junk will go from your inventory to the workshop immediately. You actually never need to manually scrap junk as the system will keep track of it and use it for whatever resources you need as you build stuff.

As far as the inventory system it took me a while to realize you can use the sort button to sort stuff by various criteria, like damage, or in my case most importantly, weight.

[korme]

I could spend all day re-arranging and building the settlement.

[Grover]

Apparently you can use Dog Meat to open the locked box in the Overseer's office.

[bhlloy]

Dammit, you guys were supposed to tell me it was full of bugs and not worth playing for the two weeks all my stuff is in storage...

[Julio Riddols]

I gotta wait til the black friday deals go live.

[Peregrine]

Dammit, you guys were supposed to tell me it was full of bugs and not worth playing for the two weeks all my stuff is in storage...

It is full of bugs but so far the ones I have seen are pretty minor and just petty annoyances.

[Grover]

Dammit, you guys were supposed to tell me it was full of bugs and not worth playing for the two weeks all my stuff is in storage...

Have you never played a Bethesda title on release?

[korme]

Have you never played a Bethesda title on release?

You're missing his point...

[jeff061]

I did not find Chevron all that difficult, I'm playing with a game pad even (and not all that great at it). A few well placed frag grenades and molotovs made a huge difference. Just took me forever to find the damn elevator after I had cleared everything else out. The useless marker to the elevator exit instead of the entrance was a little frustrating.

Very fun game though. I know I shouldn't care, but I am still slightly disappointed in the graphics. They really are a minor upgrade of a 7 year old game. This stated after replaying some of Fallout 3 over the last few weeks. Just not a big difference.

Still having a blast though. Love how they handled the power armor, actually feels like power armor. No radical departure from Fallout 3, but everything is just tighter and more streamlined.

[chinaski]

Yes you can put all your junk into your workshop "system" all at once - go to a weapon/armor/workshop item and do transfer, then press T and all your junk will go from your inventory to the workshop immediately. You actually never need to manually scrap junk as the system will keep track of it and use it for whatever resources you need as you build stuff.

As far as the inventory system it took me a while to realize you can use the sort button to sort stuff by various criteria, like damage, or in my case most importantly, weight.

Sadly it doesn't. When it auto breaks down junk, to say, get 2 screws, it will discard the other materials from whatever it broke down. This leads to a ton of quality parts getting tossed. From what I've read on Reddit, you need to toss all your junk on the ground, go into build mode then scrap it all one at a time, to insure you get all the materials possible from an item. Works well, just tedious.

[Peregrine]

I won't do that - easier to just find more junk.

[BillJasper]

I've only played a couple hours so far, seems a little linear to me. Doesn't feel quite as open world as Fallout 3.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I've only played a couple hours so far, seems a little linear to me. Doesn't feel quite as open world as Fallout 3.

fwiw, I had a little of that same feeling the first session, it pretty much faded by last night/this morning.

The difference, I think, isn't so much that the open world nature has changed as the game is simply throwing more stuff at us from the word go. It's so easy to let the game lead because I want to see where the stories are heading but it doesn't take much wandering off the path to run right back into the same odd quests & missions & sidetracks & such.

I suspect the open quests list will look more like (although not as lengthy) Skyrim's than previous Fallouts, a long list of tasks yet undone. A little disappointed to see several prompts that led to find & fetch missions but {shrug} who knows what else I'll run into along the way.

[Grover]

You're missing his point...

I did and I'm an idiot for that.

[Thomkal]

So who here has the record for most hours played already? :) Jon?

[JonInMiddleGA]

So who here has the record for most hours played already? :) Jon?

Dunno about that but I would feel pretty good about the household lead ;)
I'm currently at 19 hours I think, my kid is around 8.

[Thomkal]

Dunno about that but I would feel pretty good about the household lead ;)
I'm currently at 19 hours I think, my kid is around 8.
awesome :)

[Grover]

Dunno about that but I would feel pretty good about the household lead ;)
I'm currently at 19 hours I think, my kid is around 8.

I am jealous of both of you and cannot wait to get out of work.

[Peregrine]

Any good legendary items so far? I've found a couple of really nice guns.

[BYU 14]

I have just 3 in and just getting to clear concord square......Then lunch hour ended :mad:

[Radii]

The older I quicker motion sickness stuff seems to get to me, even in 3rd person, even taking ginger pills beforehand. Its the exploring of houses/offices where the camera changes quickly and zooms in and out that does it here, I suspect. I was able to play for about 2 hours last night before it started to bother me though.

[Grover]

Has anybody found Cheers yet?

[jeff061]

The older I quicker motion sickness stuff seems to get to me, even in 3rd person, even taking ginger pills beforehand. Its the exploring of houses/offices where the camera changes quickly and zooms in and out that does it here, I suspect. I was able to play for about 2 hours last night before it started to bother me though.

Maybe the FOV as well? That's something that's changed quite a bit in gaming over the last several years, so may not just be you getting old. If you're on the PC you can change that, google-fu it.

[cthomer5000]

Anyone else feeling underwhelmed?

I would put FO3 among my 10 favorite games of all time, but I'm having a hard time getting into this one. I'm maybe 6 hours in, and it all just feels too familiar so far.

[BillJasper]

Anyone else feeling underwhelmed?

I would put FO3 among my 10 favorite games of all time, but I'm having a hard time getting into this one. I'm maybe 6 hours in, and it all just feels too familiar so far.

Right now? Yeah.

I need to give it some more attention though before I make up my mind on it.

[cthomer5000]

Right now? Yeah.

I need to give it some more attention though before I make up my mind on it.

Oh same here. I'm sure I'll even play it to completion. I just came home pumped yesterday after picking up my pre-order... I was surprised at myself when after 2 hours I decided to turn it off and watch some TV.

Also i'm off of work today (which i thought was going to be perfectly aligned for a marathon gaming session). Again, I played a bit in the morning then wanted to put it down, and the same again in the afternoon.

I'm sure i'll end up enjoying it overall, it's just not gripping me in the way many games that really "click" with me do.

[Izulde]

The subtitle bugs are pretty ridiculous. Lot of missing subtitles or subtitles that won't load.

The in-game documentation on a lot of stuff is pitiful, too.

That said, settlement building is going to be awesome once I get the hang of it, and that alone is going to put it above FO3 and FO:NV for me.

[Peregrine]

Sadly it doesn't. When it auto breaks down junk, to say, get 2 screws, it will discard the other materials from whatever it broke down. This leads to a ton of quality parts getting tossed. From what I've read on Reddit, you need to toss all your junk on the ground, go into build mode then scrap it all one at a time, to insure you get all the materials possible from an item. Works well, just tedious.

I think I've got a mix of the systems going now where I manually break down complex stuff with a lot of parts but the smaller, simpler stuff I just put in the system as is.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Anyone else feeling underwhelmed?

I would put FO3 among my 10 favorite games of all time, but I'm having a hard time getting into this one. I'm maybe 6 hours in, and it all just feels too familiar so far.

My son just had an interesting comment that goes with this maybe

"It's not 3 ... but was anything really going to be 3?"

I kinda get that I think, the rush isn't really the same but it's still pretty darned satisfying for me to this point.

[Peregrine]

Chinaski and others - think I figured out the best way to break up your scrap. Deposit it into the system then take it out of there and manually scrap the stuff you want. The advantage of doing it this way is when you take it out (like 5 extinguishers or whatever) it will drop as one item which you can scrap but you will get the resources of all 5 - so it saves time.

edit - appears this only works when you have enough that they all transfer as a unit - if you only have a few they still drop one at a time.

[sabotai]

I kinda get that I think, the rush isn't really the same but it's still pretty darned satisfying for me to this point.

I think a lot of it is the nature of the starting content. In 3, you get to shoot your way out of the vault, go to a city and start a series of side quests that get you exploring in the world and killing lots of raiders.

In 4, the vault experience is essentially an interactive cut scene and you're first introduction to the game mechanics is to save a few people and start building up a settlement (and I was scrapping in two locations before I even got to the rescue mission). Personally I like it, but it's not exactly the most exciting way to start a game.

I also think it was way too easy and quick to get to Diamond City. I remember it taking a good long time to get to Washington DC in 3. Really drove home how dangerous the world was. In 4, Diamond City was a leisurely, 10 minute walk. The world in 4 does not feel anywhere close to the size the world was in 3.

[Grover]

How To Get Started Crafting In Fallout 4 (http://kotaku.com/how-to-get-started-crafting-in-fallout-4-1741981587)

[Peregrine]

I just discovered you can go into your pip-boy Data - Workshops and it will show you all of them in one place and what values aren't high enough (for me usually defense.) Not sure if it will help them grow - so far I haven't seen much population growth in any of mine.

[Bobble]

Sadly it doesn't. When it auto breaks down junk, to say, get 2 screws, it will discard the other materials from whatever it broke down. This leads to a ton of quality parts getting tossed. From what I've read on Reddit, you need to toss all your junk on the ground, go into build mode then scrap it all one at a time, to insure you get all the materials possible from an item. Works well, just tedious.

Word on the street (Reddit) is that it DOES NOT discard the other materials. They just take a while to show up in your inventory. Haven't tested it myself, though.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I just discovered you can go into your pip-boy Data - Workshops and it will show you all of them in one place and what values aren't high enough (for me usually defense.) Not sure if it will help them grow - so far I haven't seen much population growth in any of mine.

I spotted that fairly early on, it's kinda sorta helpful but not a huge difference maker or anything. What it does for me is more along the lines of helping figure out where to try to expand next.

This was the part of the game I was most excited about in the pre-release period. To this point I think the implementation is better than I feared it might be but maybe not the end-all/be-all of gaming I was hoping for either.

Some of the methodology as well as the UI associated with it feels very clunky to me & that's hurting it for me (although I've still spent more time motivated by & focused on it than anything else thus far).

It was nice to see -- unless I'm nuts -- that the community did some things on their own in my absence.

[General Mike]

So should I buy this? The only Fallout game I had played previously was New Vegas and I couldn't really get into it, but I'm willing to try again.

[Peregrine]

To be honest I'm not sure what's going on with the settlements - it's kind of fun to set them up but I never see the population going up (not sure if that's even the goal?) I'd almost rather they did it as one big settlement vs a ton of small ones. Of course part of it is perk dependent (especially those local leader ones) so maybe it comes to life more if/when you get those.

[BillJasper]

So should I buy this? The only Fallout game I had played previously was New Vegas and I couldn't really get into it, but I'm willing to try again.

I'd wait for it to come down in price if you aren't sure.

[sabotai]

To be honest I'm not sure what's going on with the settlements - it's kind of fun to set them up but I never see the population going up (not sure if that's even the goal?) I'd almost rather they did it as one big settlement vs a ton of small ones. Of course part of it is perk dependent (especially those local leader ones) so maybe it comes to life more if/when you get those.

There's a beacon you can build (needs power) that will draw people to it. I didn't get any new people at Sanctuary until I built that. I think it's under Power -> Misc. People labeled "Settler" just show up randomly after that. I'm up to 8 people so far at Sanctuary (I'm going to keep the Rocket settlement all to myself) and I haven't touched any of the other settlements yet (I think there are 2 others I have access to).

[Barkeep49]

Can I play on a pc with an Xbox controller or do I need to use mouse keyboard?

[korme]

I've never played Fallout before but I'm hooked. It's so unforgiving- autosave is a hero. I die and reload so many times, forces me to rethink strategy. It's great.

[JonInMiddleGA]

There's a beacon you can build (needs power) that will draw people to it. I didn't get any new people at Sanctuary until I built that. I think it's under Power -> Misc. People labeled "Settler" just show up randomly after that. I'm up to 8 people so far at Sanctuary (I'm going to keep the Rocket settlement all to myself) and I haven't touched any of the other settlements yet (I think there are 2 others I have access to).

I've built two so far, each has produced one new settler in about 6-8 hours of gameplay. (not sure how many days in-game that was, 4-6 if I had to guess, I did "sleep" at least two nights so I could do my next thing in daylight)

Getting those new bodies is critical because they allow you to create the supply line from one settlement to the next.

[Peregrine]

Yeah I built the radio beacon and the Sanctuary pop is up to 8 - I guess I had thought it would keep increasing after that. Maybe I will build another one like Jon said.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'd almost rather they did it as one big settlement vs a ton of small ones.

Yes, this this this.

Maybe not just one but definitely not so many little ones.

And for those reading that haven't gotten into the game or this aspect of the game, you don't HAVE to deal with the settlements very much. There is one that's available early on that comes with zero residents to start. As far as I can tell if you choose to do nothing with it there's no harm done.

The other "I wish" where settlements are concerned is that I would have preferred the "range" of them to be variable based on the number of residents you have. There is one in particular (with the two female occupants initially) that has such a tiny space that you're really limited on what you can do with it.

I don't want to play "Shoddy Construction Mogul" and try to work out the wonky construction mechanism & build a 4 story high-rise shack. I'll just leave that location largely irrelevant rather than do that.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Yeah I built the radio beacon and the Sanctuary pop is up to 8 - I guess I had thought it would keep increasing after that. Maybe I will build another one like Jon said.

I think the beacons are location specific. Sanctuary beacon will only draw to there, each location (to grow) has to have its own. Which kinda makes sense I guess but at the same time I'd love to be able to "reassign" settlers from one place to another.

Even if it was just through a speech check mechanic where maybe they'll relocate & maybe they don't, if you want (and they clearly do) me to spend a lot of time managing these things then give me a little more control over them.

[jeff061]

Can I play on a pc with an Xbox controller or do I need to use mouse keyboard?

I play on my pc with an Xbox controller. You need a keyboard when you name your character or of you want to optionally rename weapons and armor in-game, other than that no issues so far. Feels native.

[cthomer5000]

The next few hours of play have hooked me a lot more. I think a couple of interesting story things have happened and I finished up a fairly lengthy quest, and now I'm sort of ready to keep rolling.

I think maybe I just didn't care for the initial setup.

[Galaril]

So this being my first Fallout game I had my power armor run out of power and now not sure what I need to do. I am still just in Lexington when it happened. Do I need to already go get a new fusion core or could it be something I need to repair?

[JonInMiddleGA]

So this being my first Fallout game I had my power armor run out of power and now not sure what I need to do. I am still just in Lexington when it happened. Do I need to already go get a new fusion core or could it be something I need to repair?

If I understand you correctly, "run out of power" would suggest that it's just the fusion core. That said, depending upon how your fight(s) went you could have a piece that's damaged & in need of repair also. (i.e. that sort of thing can happen).

[Galaril]

Thanks. I was not sure if a fusion core could completely run out of energy and not recharge it's power source but I guess that is yes. Also, suit might just be damaged I suspect. Another dumb question where do I go to have a repair like that done or can I do it myself at the workshops?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Thanks. I was not sure if a fusion core could completely run out of energy and not recharge it's power source but I guess that is yes. Also, suit might just be damaged I suspect. Another dumb question where do I go to have a repair like that done or can I do it myself at the workshops?

Yeah, about that whole repairing power armor thing ... seems to be one of the bigger sources of confusion with the game thus far.

I'd try to explain it but I'm not sure I understand it myself since I have yet to successfully do so (my next session that's job one, just to see if I have it figured out).

I'd suggest Googling it up & finding a detailed explanation (or three). You apparently have to get the suit positioned on the rack (power armor station, whatever it's called) juuuuust right, then approach it juuuuust right in order to get the prompt for repair.

edit to add: But yes, you supposedly can do it yourself ... as long as you have the requisite amount of steel, circuitry, etc.

[Radii]

Maybe the FOV as well? That's something that's changed quite a bit in gaming over the last several years, so may not just be you getting old. If you're on the PC you can change that, google-fu it.

Thanks for this, by the way. I didn't realize how much you could change in the ini files. It looks like there are some other motion issues outside of just FOV giving folks problems too, I'll be messing around with all of this the next time I sit down to play for awhile.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Okay, figured out the power armor repair deal. Not sure how well I can explain it but ...

Walk the suit super close to the stand/rack thing.
exit the suit

That should end up with the suit hanging on the stand (although sometimes it just stands there & magically attaches itself later)

But with the suit (which is really the frame of the armor) AND all of the component pieces on the stand or stored in the inventory of the stand (NOT your workshop, separate inventory) ... walk around to the very frame of the power armor stand. That should give you a slightly different menu, with options to Craft Armor, that'll get you into the crafting/modifications menu same as with regular armor. And within that screen, piece by piece, any damaged or broken armor will have a Repair option, select that and it'll show you what resources will be used/are needed for the fix.

[Peregrine]

I never had an issue getting the armor in the rack and the craft option - one thing to keep in mind is that it seems to take the same amount of steel to repair a piece no matter how much it is damaged. Now after a while of play steel is pretty common but be careful you're not doling out 4 steel or whatever it is for like 5 hp of damage.

[djsatu]

So should I buy this? The only Fallout game I had played previously was New Vegas and I couldn't really get into it, but I'm willing to try again.

You owe it to yourself to play Fallout 3

[BillJasper]

Getting more into the game now, but it is let down by the fact that it has the same flaws Fallout 3 had 8 years ago. Jerky controls, stuttering frame rate at times, sound drops here and there.

[Galaril]

Getting more into the game now, but it is let down by the fact that it has the same flaws Fallout 3 had 8 years ago. Jerky controls, stuttering frame rate at times, sound drops here and there.

Are you a console or PC?

[cthomer5000]

Getting more into the game now, but it is let down by the fact that it has the same flaws Fallout 3 had 8 years ago. Jerky controls, stuttering frame rate at times, sound drops here and there.

I think it's unavoidable with a game of this scope. Literally no one does what Bethesda does with games. The stuff that is tracked world-wide is bonkers.

The game has to remember that i stuffed 50 lbs of armor in a garbage can in some random location (in hopes of coming back to it later). The number of variables probably makes testing this game a complete nightmare, and replicating some issues nearly impossible (since you won't even know which variables triggered it).

We all wish games were perfect, but i think it just comes with the game here. And frankly, it doesn't bother me too much. I'm the type who sort of loves glitches in video games.

[Julio Riddols]

I think it's unavoidable with a game of this scope. Literally no one does what Bethesda does with games. The stuff that is tracked world-wide is bonkers.

The game has to remember that i stuffed 50 lbs of armor in a garbage can in some random location (in hopes of coming back to it later). The number of variables probably makes testing this game a complete nightmare, and replicating some issues nearly impossible (since you won't even know which variables triggered it).

We all wish games were perfect, but i think it just comes with the game here. And frankly, it doesn't bother me too much. I'm the type who sort of loves glitches in video games.

This is how I feel about it too. Games this big, with this much going on, its gotta be damn near impossible to catch all the bugs. On the plus side games can be patched these days, so if anything crazy pops up they will likely address it I assume.

[Groundhog]

Had my first raid on a settlement today - one I'd recruited to the Minutemen awhile back and never actually did anything with. It's basically a big farm with two people and no defenses. I went to the settlement when I got the warning and was attacked by about 8 ghouls. I gave it a couple of tries but then just let the ghouls have it...

My main settlement is completely walled off now with the exception of the bridge, but this is too expensive for the other settlements. Not sure how much effort I'm going to put in for other settlements, maybe just build up the Castle and leave it at that.

[Peregrine]

Pretty cool - haven't had that happen yet. I'm trying to keep the minor settlements that have people reasonably defended at least but there's only so much you can do. I found a house in the wilderness defended by Minutemen - not sure if this is just part of how that faction questline builds up, but it was neat to see.

Of course not as neat when they didn't help me fight off raiders nearby.

[Barkeep49]

Having to play in Windowed mode so I can fast travel is annoying. Otherwise I'm very much enjoying this version.

[cthomer5000]

A single quest-line that perfectly demonstrates why I love these games: The Silver Shroud.

[jeff061]

If you keep the defenses above the red will they ever get attacked? I haven't been strategic about type or placement, I just make sure the defense rating is not red.

[Peregrine]

Having to play in Windowed mode so I can fast travel is annoying. Otherwise I'm very much enjoying this version.

Weird, is that some kind of bug?

[korme]

I like the fact that my friend can text me "I just murdered my son" and I am not immediately concerned.

[Groundhog]

If you keep the defenses above the red will they ever get attacked? I haven't been strategic about type or placement, I just make sure the defense rating is not red.

I haven't seen it, but on reddit I've seen people talking about being attacked by super mutants who came in from the vault-side of Sanctuary which sounds like a freakin nightmare.

Still costs a lot of resources, but I think my strategy for building settlements is going to be a rectangle of pre-fab wooden building blocks with one entry and an open middle area for farming.

[JonInMiddleGA]

re: attacks on settlements

I actually wonder whether it has as much to do with your level as anything.

I just experienced my first one at around lvl 18 or 19. My son got his first at the same point, another just after he passed lvl 20.

I also wonder what may happen that we don't see. The ammo being carried by several of my settlers in Sanctuary has gone down but I've seen no indication of any attacks.

I also keep seeing (in my Data tab) cases where the available beds & defense stat suddenly drops to 0 in Sanctuary so I go to check it out & find nothing amiss, the stat suddenly restored to normal. Maybe those are during attacks by mole rats or random wildlife?

[Groundhog]

After 22 hours, I'm still enjoying this a great deal. I delayed continuing on with the main quest until last night and I'm enjoying the story line. Writing is as strong as usual. Difficulty level feels about right to me. I've had a ton of trouble with some portions of the game (...the boss of the Castle mission and all it's freakin offspring....) and have more than a few times been in a position where I'm forced to use h2h weapons due to lacking any ammo, which I actually kinda like. It's not something I did much of in FO3.

Graphics are not up to scratch for a modern game. The textures are flat and character faces don't show much emotion. Having said that, the Fallout series has it's own unique 'flavour', and despite my initial impressions I have gone back to not noticing the slightly dated graphics. Every now and then I still see something in the game that impresses me - the Brotherhood of Steel blimp in particular, as well as the scale and detail of some of the cities in the game.

Weapon modding is great, but expensive as far as resources go - I wasn't aware I could remove weapon mods and use them again until I read something this morning. I love being able to modify weapons to match my play style. I haven't spent as much time customising armour due to lack of perks and lack of decent armour found so far.

The settlement building is a lot of fun and I've spent probably as much time on it as I have on the rest of the game, but I'm not sure how 'worthwhile' it is, or if it's just like a Fallout 4: Sims mini-game. Not that that in itself is a bad thing. Once I finish FO4 I think a lot of the longevity will come from this side of the game. I would like to see more raids, and I fully expect someone to come up with a tower defense-type mod at some point.

There was a lot made of bugs, but I've seen very few outside of minor graphic and animation glitches. Most annoying for me is that subtitles stop working at times, and if I'm playing at night I generally have the sound down as for some reason my wife doesn't like sleeping through the sound of ghoul attacks... :)

This feels like another classic game to me, something I'll fire up again years down the line to finish again.

[JonInMiddleGA]

have more than a few times been in a position where I'm forced to use h2h weapons due to lacking any ammo

In the first day or two I read about that but, honestly, I haven't had much trouble with it. Some ammo is more common than others, especially in the early going, but I've never really truly come close to running out of anything other than shotgun shells. And I've never actually truly run out of ammo of any caliber for any weapons I carry (typically 3-4 diff types at any time).

I'm an OCD scavver, is that the difference maybe? Or difficulty level perhaps?

I haven't spent as much time customising armour due to lack of perks and lack of decent armour found so far.

The armor seems to pick up around level 16 or so. And one key I think is not worrying about matching sets. Take what you find, improve it a bit and definitely check traders & shops. Even one piece that's an upgrade feels like a difference to me.

[Groundhog]

In the first day or two I read about that but, honestly, I haven't had much trouble with it. Some ammo is more common than others, especially in the early going, but I've never really truly come close to running out of anything other than shotgun shells. And I've never actually truly run out of ammo of any caliber for any weapons I carry (typically 3-4 diff types at any time).

I'm an OCD scavver, is that the difference maybe? Or difficulty level perhaps?


I'm not OCD, but I do scavenge every room I enter, and try to check most rooms when I'm inside a building... wait, maybe that does make me OCD. :D

The only ammo I have zero issues with is 10mm, but the pistol and tommy gun are so weak that I'd rather use my serrated chinese officer sword, which does about ~35 damage from memory, than a 10mm pistol.

I don't feel like I run around blowing my ammo on everything, but I have ventured out into the wilderness and been in firefights I probably don't need to have.


The armor seems to pick up around level 16 or so. And one key I think is not worrying about matching sets. Take what you find, improve it a bit and definitely check traders & shops. Even one piece that's an upgrade feels like a difference to me.

I'm at 15 now, so maybe I'm on the verge. I've just recently started finding 'special' pieces of armour, but nothing revolutionary yet. I was super happy to find an army helmet, as my trusty hardhat had been with me since very early on in the game.

[Peregrine]

For me I am starting to see more ammo issues now when I am getting to some much tougher fights (heavily armed raiders like the Gunners and super mutants) around level 17. I have been on Very Hard difficulty the whole time and frankly haven't found the game very hard but I am starting to burn a lot of ammo even when switching between multiple weapons with different ammo types. Getting the perk where you find more ammo has definitely helped though. I think part of it is that I don't have a lot of AP on my character due to low agility so I have to fire a lot from the hip which burns more.

I'm waiting to see how the settlement attacks will work - I try to keep all my active ones solid in defense, and lately I've started a campaign to arm and armor my settlers better - since most of them start with stuff like junk pipe pistols and no armor. I just grab random raider armor and weapons I don't need (mostly 10mm and shotguns since those are the ammo types I don't use much.) I gave one guy a missile launcher, so at least they've got one big gun.

[Barkeep49]

Weird, is that some kind of bug?
Definitely a bug. Lots of people reporting it online. It worked while in Power Armor but wouldn't work in the general map. Being in Windowed mode lessens immersion but is tolerable at the highest resolution.

[jeff061]

Pornhub's traffic dipped significantly the day Fallout 4 came out | GamesBeat | Games | by Jeff Grubb (http://venturebeat.com/2015/11/13/pornhubs-traffic-dipped-significantly-the-day-fallout-4-came-out/)

[Peregrine]

What do you guys think of how they handled power armor in the game? To me they really seemed to make it more of a requirement for some stuff - I get my ass kicked in certain fights unless I use it, and I have pretty good regular armor. Right now I tend to just save it for important or tough fights - I have plenty of fusion cores but I guess I don't like the idea of using it all the time when I have all the perks, etc to improve my regular armor so much.

[JonInMiddleGA]

What do you guys think of how they handled power armor in the game? To me they really seemed to make it more of a requirement for some stuff - I get my ass kicked in certain fights unless I use it, and I have pretty good regular armor. Right now I tend to just save it for important or tough fights - I have plenty of fusion cores but I guess I don't like the idea of using it all the time when I have all the perks, etc to improve my regular armor so much.

Used it in a fight last night for the first time since the quest that introduced it. (clearing a charter school, for those curious). Useful, I certainly would have died without it, but feels like a pain in the ass frankly. Not a fan at all tbh, of anything they've done with power armor.

[cartman]

I can't seem to find any fusion cores to replace the dead one in my power armor.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I can't seem to find any fusion cores to replace the dead one in my power armor.

I think I have 10 currently (had 11, burned one on that mission).

Be sure to eyeball any & all generator looking gizmos, larger ones basically, in buildings. I've also gotten more than half of them just from random scavving of containers & such. Took one off a Super Mutie body.

[cartman]

Are they gonna be more in business type buildings vs. residential? I read that as well, but haven't come across any. I'm probably just not recognizing them.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Are they gonna be more in business type buildings vs. residential? I read that as well, but haven't come across any. I'm probably just not recognizing them.

Hrm, hadn't read anything about that (haven't read a ton since day one really) but it makes sense. The larger the power source the more likely to find one, so that would jibe completely. Those are literally what provides their generator (and therefore the building) its power.

An example -- without totally spoilering anyone -- would be the first quest where you encounter synths. The task where you re-start the power in the building, there's one right there when you do the restart. Watch for a (not really functioning) button lableled "Eject" (or Eject Core, something like that) ... you can really just take it but that button is always on the panel IIRC.

[Peregrine]

I have around 15 or 16 cores now (at level 20) - like Jon said - most large industrial type buildings will have one somewhere, usually in a machine like the first one you get when you first get the power armor. There's a couple spots where you can find multiple at once - usually where you find high tech stuff.

A good early place to get one (not really a spoiler since right at the beginning) is in the cave underneath the Red Rocket near Sanctuary.

The machines you're looking for will be like this:

http://s3.accelerated-ideas.com/generic/images/fallout4/fallout4_fusion_core.jpg

[JonInMiddleGA]

A good early place to get one (not really a spoiler since right at the beginning) is in the cave underneath the Red Rocket near Sanctuary.

Wait ... there's a cave?

(And no, I don't think I'm kidding, I don't believe I actually found/dealt with it ... no worries re: spoilering but I just found that amusing)

[Groundhog]

I've only used my power armour twice - when I first got it (and promptly sprinted everywhere wearing it until I ran out of power), and then on another mission I was struggling with. I think I have 7 or 8 spare cores, found through power generators as per Peregine's screenshot.

Anyone know how scrapers/ammo stores work in your settlements? I built my first couple last night, but I'm not clear on the benefits.

[Peregrine]

I think part of the power armor use depends on your build. My character uses melee weapons a lot so the power armor comes in real handy to close the gap to gun-using enemies who would otherwise light me up. If I'm shooting at range it's not really necessary most of the time.

[Groundhog]

I'm thinking next time around I really want to focus on close combat. I can see it being an issue vs boss-type characters and super mutants, but in general you can pack a lot of punch without worrying about ammo.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Warning:

Abnormal Traffic Detected (http://www.gamespot.com/articles/fallout-4-game-breaking-bug-discovered/1100-6432308/)

As detailed on the Bethesda forums, the bug in question concerns a settlement quest which requires players to head to Mosignor Plaza. Upon attempting to travel there, several players have encountered a game crash straight to the desktop, without an error message.

edit to add: No clue what "abnormal traffic detected" text means. It's a copied & pasted link to the gamespot article on the bug.

[Abe Sargent]

I've had this issue where after one run, of about an hour, and multiple saves, I chose to restarted. In the restart, my old saves were deleted, and my mouse controls for up/down were reversed,and there's no control option for mouse pointing and direction.

[Groundhog]

I'll put this in spoilers as it's related to the main quest, but I made it to the Glowing Sea last night for the first time...


...holy shit, power armour definitely came in handy there, for the radiation but also for the fact that I was mobbed by radscorpions and deathclaws... At one point I was madly back-pedaling firing my rapidly depleting ammo at two deathclaws with about 8 or 9 radscorpions also in pursuit - thankfully those scorps attacking the deathclaws, too. I was all out of stimpacks and had a sliver of health left by the time I made it to the cave, and had to sneak around another deathclaw.

[RainMaker]

What's everyone's perk strategy early on?

[Peregrine]

Think it will depend on the build I am going for - right now I have a lot of strength and endurance so I'm doing a lot of crafting skills, melee weapon, and then some other stuff like ammo scrounging. Also lockpick. I'm hoping you get some benefits for going deep into an individual perk line - haven't really done this yet due to level restrictions.

[Groundhog]

I've gone for charisma this time which I haven't done before, and no points spent on hacking or lockpicking, which is again the opposite of what I usually do.

Most two recent perks have been ammo scrounging (helps a lot for my style of play - keep running out of ammo), but otherwise I've concentrated on the charisma tree mostly, with a few points spent on gunslinger (for the weapons mods) and town leader (I think it's called - the one that lets you build trade routes and stores in your settlements).

[Abe Sargent]

I have a high CHA/LCK gal, trying something new

[SackAttack]

I'm farting around with the first settlement revival. Clearing ruined houses, that sort of thing. I feel like it's a significant enough addition to the game that I really ought to see if it's a thing I'm going to enjoy or if I should just leave it alone. Or whether leaving it alone matters to the game at all.

[BYU 14]

I have always gone for a stealth sniper build, but changing it up and going for melee this time. Have a nice chain wrapped bat and using perks to increase damage, (Big Leagues, Rooted, Bloody Mess) weapon crafting (Blacksmith), increase action points (Action Boy) to get up on enemies quickly and of course Medic to get more out of Stimpaks. Will venture outside of those to trees to put some in stealth to increase damage from sneak attacks next.

BTW, Diamond City might be my new favorite location in any Fallout game. Spent about 15 minutes just taking in every nuance of the stadium from the Mayors office. Fenway is really nicely done and to keep the green monster looking sharp the paint the town quest was the first one I did here. Off to look for Nick Valentine now.

Loving the game so far

[Groundhog]

I don't think it actually matters at all as far as the main quest goes. The benefits are slow-coming and I haven't really noticed the affects yet, especially taking into account the amount of hours I've spent in the 'mode', but I think once you have scrappers and ammo stores etc. it will eventually reap rewards in ammo, crafting parts, and bottlecaps... but having said that, I've intentionally not read much about other player's experiences.

I have the low-tier stores in my town and I probably collect 40-50 bottlecaps and some minor ammo each time I revisit my Sanctuary settlement.

[Abe Sargent]

I wish i knew how often Idiot Savant triggers to know if its work it early on

[JonInMiddleGA]

With the exception of the one you kinda pretty much have to deal with I don't get any sense yet that it really matters to the main quest.

I think one of the more impactful things the settlement system does is significantly hampers your finances. That's a LOT of junk that used to be 100 caps here & 100 caps there in the early game that you're no longer selling. While I've heard/read about some players suffering an ammo shortage, I think caps are in far shorter supply compared to F3. I'm finally getting to where I don't feel restricted -- at level 22 or something, and with 2 perks put into the barter benefits -- but I'd say the economy was one of the bigger changes in the game, if you're dealing with settlements in a moderate or higher degree at least.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I wish i knew how often Idiot Savant triggers to know if its work it early on

Idiot Savant - The Fallout wiki - Fallout 4 and more - Wikia (http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Idiot_Savant)

[Abe Sargent]

Cool, I have an INT of 2 so it works well for me to grab it level 2.

[RainMaker]

I am confused on the story. So does my character go into the fallout shelter in 2077 or whatever and come out 200 years later? It confuses me because the game always had a 1940's feel to it but maybe Fallout is it's own world where you have old school TVs in 2077 but talking robots.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I am confused on the story. So does my character go into the fallout shelter in 2077 or whatever and come out 200 years later? It confuses me because the game always had a 1940's feel to it but maybe Fallout is it's own world where you have old school TVs in 2077 but talking robots.

Pretty much the latter. Culture - I mean as in pop culture type stuff - basically stopped somewhere in the late 40s or so.

Here's a pretty basic synopsis of the universe timeline
Warning: the full version of the timeline linked below DOES have spoilers from the other games mentioned

Get ready for Fallout 4 with this Fallout timeline | Games | Geek.com (http://www.geek.com/games/get-ready-for-fallout-4-with-this-fallout-timeline-1629887/)

Here's the relevant snippet for your question

Everything up to the end of World War II: Business as usual.
1950s and 1960s: Rock and roll never happened. America never got past tailfins on cars.
1961: The first man in space is American Captain Carl Bell.
1969: The United States of America is partitioned into thirteen commonwealths across the 50 states. It’s a mid-level distinction between state and nation, though the United States remains a single country for the purpose of becoming a world superpower. Also, Captain Richard Wade, Mark Garris, and Michael Hagen become the first men to set foot on the moon.

[RainMaker]

Thanks, that makes much more sense.

I'm enjoying the game so far although I don't think it's on the level of Fallout 3. As Jon mentioned, the economy is the biggest improvement.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Thanks, that makes much more sense.

I'm enjoying the game so far although I don't think it's on the level of Fallout 3. As Jon mentioned, the economy is the biggest improvement.

I agree that it isn't F3 but have to say that last night was probably the most enjoyable session with F4 I've had.

Everything I did made sense, the quests and even the randoms were good stories, it was just really a good session. Dare I say, it was ... fun.

[Groundhog]

I agree that it isn't F3 but have to say that last night was probably the most enjoyable session with F4 I've had.

Everything I did made sense, the quests and even the randoms were good stories, it was just really a good session. Dare I say, it was ... fun.

I think I prefer the D.C. setting of 3 to the Boston setting of 4, but a lot of that might come from the fact that as a non-American I'm a lot more familiar with Washington D.C. than I am Boston, so I probably miss a ton of references.

I prefer the main quest in 4 though so far, I think it might be the Bladerunner feel of it, and I think the writing in general is probably stronger.

[BillJasper]

Dare I say, it was ... fun.

It is fun.

But I still think it needed a new/better engine under the hood. I'm playing on the Xbox One and the load times are killer, had a few crashes in addition to the issues I've mentioned before.

If it wasn't Fallout, I think the reviews would've been much harsher for this one.

[JonInMiddleGA]

It is fun.

But I still think it needed a new/better engine under the hood. I'm playing on the Xbox One and the load times are killer, had a few crashes in addition to the issues I've mentioned before.

If it wasn't Fallout, I think the reviews would've been much harsher for this one.

I've had my crashes & glitches (XB1 here also) but then again I had them in Witcher3 and pretty much every other game I've ever played on any console.

Most common for me so far has been freezes in dialogue scenes (you talk, they talk, your next option doesn't appear on screen). 3 of those in 52 hours.

[Peregrine]

I think I prefer the D.C. setting of 3 to the Boston setting of 4, but a lot of that might come from the fact that as a non-American I'm a lot more familiar with Washington D.C. than I am Boston, so I probably miss a ton of references.


I am enjoying Boston more for nothing else than it's much more open - F3 was awesome but all the blocked off access roads and forcing you to travel through the underground for me got really old really fast.

[RainMaker]

My problem with 4 is that the map just seems barren. Like I'll walk halfway across it and come across maybe a few feral ghouls and that's it. I don't know if they ran into issues with the hardware not being powerful enough but going from one location to another is a bore. I'm starting to fast travel not to speed it up but because there is no point in walking it. I felt in the other versions there was a lot more going on in the map.

[Peregrine]

Rainmaker are you talking about in the locations on the map? Or between them? From what I've seen there's a lot going on at the marked locations (sometimes at least.) In between them can be boring but also there are raider lairs, random encounters, and so forth.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I felt in the other versions there was a lot more going on in the map.

Really? I've started to feel just the opposite if anything, I can't seem to walk more than 30 secs without running into at least a medium sized battle opportunity or a marked location.

I'm at something like 120 already, got the achievements for 100 two or three days ago. And the biggest issue I've got with that is not having the time to actually explore half of them.

[BillJasper]

Really? I've started to feel just the opposite if anything, I can't seem to walk more than 30 secs without running into at least a medium sized battle opportunity or a marked location.

I'm at something like 120 already, got the achievements for 100 two or three days ago. And the biggest issue I've got with that is not having the time to actually explore half of them.

Same here.

I'm at about 28 hours and haven't run out of things to do and places to go.

[jeff061]

Same. The map to me seems much smaller, but it's way more packed with stuff. Basically it's DC with the empty spots removed and a lot more content built up vertically in buildings and such. Boston itself is a beast of areas to explore.

Definitely less ground to cover, which makes the game world seem much smaller in the early goings, but once you are fast traveling around that doesn't matter so much anymore.

[RainMaker]

There are places to go and the missions are great. I meant the stuff in-between. The open world part of it. I remember in previous versions walking around the wasteland coming across random enemies and encampments like crazy. One minute some Deathclaws pop out to come at you, another a whole bunch of raiders ambush you. I just feel like I walk around the wasteland from one point to another and rarely come across any activity.

[chinaski]

I wish i knew how often Idiot Savant triggers to know if its work it early on

My current build is centered around it. It triggers often and can trigger on quest xp rewards as well. I just got 1100 off a quest last night because of it. Where it really shines is crafting. going to work on your settlements? Take a nap for the rested bonus and get to crafting. You can get 78xp a pop on turrets, 20+ on walls etc. Its really great for leveling. Works great on making food/drinks as well.

[Galaril]

Really? I've started to feel just the opposite if anything, I can't seem to walk more than 30 secs without running into at least a medium sized battle opportunity or a marked location.

I'm at something like 120 already, got the achievements for 100 two or three days ago. And the biggest issue I've got with that is not having the time to actually explore half of them.


Yeah agree lots more content in this than the past games

[Abe Sargent]

At level 11, I grabbed the next level of Idoit Savant, I finished a quest, Confidence Man, and gota 5x random reward that got me two levels and half way to the next

[SackAttack]

I'm disappointed in Concord, and I hope the later areas get much better. I went exploring and basically all the buildings were scenery. The doors were boarded up, so they existed only so the landscape wouldn't be totally barren.

There was a church; the odd house or two; one or two shops; and the museum. That's what there was to explore aboveground. I like that you can scavenge materials, but it's kind of frustrating to run across tires or something and not be able to do anything to/with them because you're not in an area that can be turned into a settlement.

[Peregrine]

I agree about the boarded up buildings - you will continue to see those a lot but there are some in each area to actually explore. Some of the smaller towns are a lot more interesting than Concord, and the bigger areas tend to be more packed with stuff to do. I'm looking forward to future mods which will flesh out the towns a bit more.

[jetpunk2000]

I've hit my "fallout wall". It's happened in 3,New Vegas, and now 4. Game starts off I can't put it down for days and then after a while I feel it all gets monotonous. I don't play it for a while, try to come back a couple of months later but then realize there is so much shit going on that I have forgotten pretty much everything and start over again. Rinse, repeat. I think I finally beat 3 on my 3rd or 4 th play through and never beat New Vegas. It sucks because I really do love the games but at some point they have all felt like a chore.

[markprior22]

For someone who has never played this series, which previous FO game would you recommend? Don't want to drop full price on 4 without seeing if the game appeals to me.

[jetpunk2000]

For someone who has never played this series, which previous FO game would you recommend? Don't want to drop full price on 4 without seeing if the game appeals to me.

3 will give you a good idea of what to expect and it's cheap. New Vegas is the better game of the 2. The original PC fallouts are great but nothing like the Bethesda games. I'd say if you like 3 then go back and play 1/2 to get some of the lore.

[jeff061]

I've hit my "fallout wall". It's happened in 3,New Vegas, and now 4. Game starts off I can't put it down for days and then after a while I feel it all gets monotonous. I don't play it for a while, try to come back a couple of months later but then realize there is so much shit going on that I have forgotten pretty much everything and start over again. Rinse, repeat. I think I finally beat 3 on my 3rd or 4 th play through and never beat New Vegas. It sucks because I really do love the games but at some point they have all felt like a chore.

I think when I hit that point is when I generally just hit up the main story and play through.

[Abe Sargent]

Here's muh quick template at level 15

Malva Maitland

STR 6
PER 5
END 3
CHar 6
INT 2
AGI 4
LUCK 6

Toughness - 1
Black Widow - 2
Cap Collector - 1
Attack Dog - 1
Local Leader - 1
Bloody Mess - 1
Idiot Savant - 2
Fortune Finder - 1
Scrounger - 1

[JonInMiddleGA]

3 will give you a good idea of what to expect and it's cheap. New Vegas is the better game of the 2. The original PC fallouts are great but nothing like the Bethesda games. I'd say if you like 3 then go back and play 1/2 to get some of the lore.

I think you're the first person I've ever seen call FO:NV better than FO:3.

You're entitled to that opinion, totally cool ... I just figured somebody ought to point out to the o.p. that there's definitely mixed opinions on that.


FWIW, I'd say that F4 feels a lot more like F3 ... at least to me.

[Abe Sargent]

I call it that too. New Vegas is a better game.

[Peregrine]

I would say at least they are equal but I would have to give it to NV over FO3 also - just like the story and the setting a lot better plus the expanded crafting etc.

[Scoobz0202]

Yea, I would play NV again. Cant say that about 3.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Seriously? I honestly truly legit had no idea that opinion existed.

F:NV felt like a relatively weak imitation to me, my son grades it even more harshly head to head. It wasn't bad, still one of my 20 most played games ever, it simply was nowhere near as compelling as 3 for either of us.

[jetpunk2000]

They are both excellent games but for me NV was closer to the PC games than 3. Probably because Obsidian made it. The dialogue and story were better for me. Everything else was pretty much the same.

[JonInMiddleGA]

They are both excellent games but for me NV was closer to the PC games than 3. Probably because Obsidian made it. The dialogue and story were better for me. Everything else was pretty much the same.

I think one of the things that hurt it with me was the relative disappointment of how they handled Vegas proper.

The other thing was a relative lack of engagement I felt with some of the factions/characters. It existed, it just didn't ... connect for me. That wasn't a problem for me with F3.

[mckerney]

New Vegas is vastly superior to 3. Coherent story as opposed to Fallout 3s nonsensical one along with great companion characters and well written dialogue. So pretty much standard fare for both Bethesda's large but shallow worlds and Obsidian creating a sequel that's better than it's predecessor.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r117/zombiesupastar/not_my_fallout_zpsav1gq4ac.png

[BillJasper]

Think I've ran into my first real glitch.

There is a mission called 'Quartermasterly' where you go to the Greater Mass Blood Bank for a part for the Brotherhood of Steel. Finished it once, took the part back to the Brotherhood and a few hours later, they're asking for the same part from the same location again.

I'll do it again and see what happens... :eek:

[jeff061]

I ran into that for another quest. It let me turn it in twice.

[jeff061]

Also I preferred F3 over New Vegas as well. Was surprised I seemed to be in the minority. I liked New Vegas, I just didn't find myself as immersed in the game world as I did in 3. Did not feel as organic of an experience.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Think I've ran into my first real glitch.

There is a mission called 'Quartermasterly' where you go to the Greater Mass Blood Bank for a part for the Brotherhood of Steel. Finished it once, took the part back to the Brotherhood and a few hours later, they're asking for the same part from the same location again.

I'll do it again and see what happens... :eek:

Okay, I had a similar deal but with a settlement quest so now that it's been mentioned ... has anyone else had that happen? Where you've done the "get 'em in the fold" quest for a settlement but more than an in-game week later you get an almost identical "wipe out Threat X" quest from the same settlement?

I wasn't sure whether that was a bug or if it was something intentional meant to extend the interaction with the settlement.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Also, since I'm in the thread anyway, a question for people who've run into broken power armor (the whole handling of use/repair for it being annoyingly convoluted to me).

Okay, power armor frame is on the rack but now I've found pieces that I want to swap in. Except the pieces are broken, like 0/500 "health". I put them into the inventory of the power armor rack, hoping to repair them. Can't repair pieces in inventory, says they must be on the suit to work on them ... and can't put them on the suit because items have to be repaired before they can be used.

Am I just an idiot here or are those parts stuck in a loop of never being repaired (and as such become items that I might as well just sell for caps)?

[jeff061]

Ha, my wedding venue is represented as a location in the game. My fiance is playing and is out on the harbor and says, hmm, should be here. Turn around and there it is. Cool moment.

[Peregrine]

Also, since I'm in the thread anyway, a question for people who've run into broken power armor (the whole handling of use/repair for it being annoyingly convoluted to me).

Okay, power armor frame is on the rack but now I've found pieces that I want to swap in. Except the pieces are broken, like 0/500 "health". I put them into the inventory of the power armor rack, hoping to repair them. Can't repair pieces in inventory, says they must be on the suit to work on them ... and can't put them on the suit because items have to be repaired before they can be used.

Am I just an idiot here or are those parts stuck in a loop of never being repaired (and as such become items that I might as well just sell for caps)?


You can do it all from one screen. Get the broken piece you want to swap in in your inventory, then hit the craft button at the armor rack. This will give you the repair option and it will show you the pieces that are in the armor as well as the broken ones, so you can repair them. Once you repair them you can hit the equip button. It all works from that one screen, don't try to use the transfer one at all.

[Groundhog]

I think when I hit that point is when I generally just hit up the main story and play through.

Yep. I get bored when I spend too much time working on my settlements or random side quests, but as soon as I hit up the main storyline I'm back in business.

[Barkeep49]

FWIW, put me in the like NV better than 3 camp. The writing was just so much better. I can't remember any of the decisions I made in 3 but do in NV.

As for 4, I am enjoying it (at level 16), but am in the camp that it's too densely populated.

[BillJasper]

They should have a 'Wisdom of Strong' book! :lol:

[JonInMiddleGA]

You can do it all from one screen. Get the broken piece you want to swap in in your inventory, then hit the craft button at the armor rack. This will give you the repair option and it will show you the pieces that are in the armor as well as the broken ones, so you can repair them. Once you repair them you can hit the equip button. It all works from that one screen, don't try to use the transfer one at all.

That was it, thanks.

I thought I'd done it -- somehow -- once before but forgot the method :/

[BillJasper]

I switched from third person to first person and found the game runs much smoother on the Xbox One.

[Abe Sargent]

I have decided to stop throwing good time after bad and to set aside Fallout 4 for now. After putting in around 70 hours or so, I've had increasingly bad load times of minutes, multiple crashes to desktop, and today I've had my PC freeze twice and had to reboot it. Meanwhile I've tried to delete saves or something to free it up but no good. It's getting progressively worse and worse. We're done.

[Peregrine]

Yikes I haven't had anything like that. Some weird bugs yes but not CTDs or PC freeze.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I've had 3-4 system lockups on XB1 through about 100 hours of play but no loss beyond one fight due to the autosaves.

[Neon_Chaos]

Playing on PS4. roughly 20 hours now, haven't had the game crash at all.

[BillJasper]

My wife was clearing out Mirelurk eggs at the Castle. Once she had killed them all, it wouldn't acknowledge the mission was complete. Frustrated, she went on to other things.

A half-hour later, the mission complete message pops up.

It is a very buggy release. Do we have any idea when a patch is coming?

[klayman]

Clearing the eggs should result in a battle against a boss. Is it possible she didn't notice (I've seen the boss get stuck on the walls) and eventually the Minuteman killed the boss completing the mission?

[Groundhog]

I'm also in the 'haven't really seen all that many bugs and zero crashes' camp (PC).

[BillJasper]

Clearing the eggs should result in a battle against a boss. Is it possible she didn't notice (I've seen the boss get stuck on the walls) and eventually the Minuteman killed the boss completing the mission?

She killed the Mirelurk Queen.

[JonInMiddleGA]

My wife was clearing out Mirelurk eggs at the Castle. Once she had killed them all, it wouldn't acknowledge the mission was complete. Frustrated, she went on to other things.

A half-hour later, the mission complete message pops up.

It is a very buggy release. Do we have any idea when a patch is coming?

Killing the Queen doesn't complete the mission, starting up the radio transmitter does.

There's supposed to be a scene where you meet Garvey in the courtyard afterwards but that will begin whether you're there or not (I was on the wall where I killed the queen, dealt with a few leftover eggs, by the time I got down I heard him just finishing the speech while I was still inside)

[Peregrine]

I just finished the Cabot missions - I think I would have liked them better if there was one more mission in the line to fill it out but still pretty interesting.

[cthomer5000]

I've played about 60 hours on PS4 and had two hard crashes.
I can absolutely live with that ratio.

[Atocep]

I'm about 60 hours into the PC version and have had maybe 2 hard lockups and 3-4 reloads because of bugs. That's a huge improvement over every other Bethesda game I've played.

So far I wish they had used higher res textures, but not very many complaints to be honest. It's not a huge leap forward, but it's still fallout. The map isn't massive by current open world game standards, but it makes up for it with a metric fuckton of shit to do.

Overall I'm pleased. Hopefully we have some Point Lookout level DLC to look forward to.

[Groundhog]

49 hours in here. I'm a bit surprised it's not higher... :)

After being burned by my faction choice in Fallout New Vegas (re: how it affected my ending), I'm probably being a bit cautious this time around. Without giving away any spoilers, if I 'accept' membership to any one of the Brotherhood/Railroad/various others, does that effectively end the other faction-relationed quests for the others?

[bulletsponge]

49 hours in here. I'm a bit surprised it's not higher... :)

After being burned by my faction choice in Fallout New Vegas (re: how it affected my ending), I'm probably being a bit cautious this time around. Without giving away any spoilers, if I 'accept' membership to any one of the Brotherhood/Railroad/various others, does that effectively end the other faction-relationed quests for the others?

not that ive seen so far. im a member of all them. im sure ill have to betray one or many of them before the games over though


oh yea, no crashes or lockups on my PC

[Abe Sargent]

49 hours in here. I'm a bit surprised it's not higher... :)

After being burned by my faction choice in Fallout New Vegas (re: how it affected my ending), I'm probably being a bit cautious this time around. Without giving away any spoilers, if I 'accept' membership to any one of the Brotherhood/Railroad/various others, does that effectively end the other faction-relationed quests for the others?

Much later

[TroyF]

I'm 92 hours in. (God, I really need a life, don't I?)

Have had 2 crashes to desktop, no freezes, and one quest killing bug that was fixed on a reload. (was stuck in an elevator)

Very happy with the game thus far.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Question about the faction stuff: in the decision dialogue for Bros Of Steel there's something said about "no more freelancing".

Can someone confirm that joining the BoS does NOT impact the amount of side quests that you're assigned (i.e. Minutemen, Railroad, etc the factional stuff) until whatever decision points are reached considerable farther along than I am at the moment?

I'd say 75% of my gameplay thus far has been settlement related quests, with randoms & Railroad being still more than the main storyline. I'd like to explore the BoS stuff but not at the expense of the vast majority of what I've been doing.

[Barkeep49]

I can confirm that you are more than able to freelance even once you join the BoS. I presume there is a point later on where this is no longer true but at the moment I am a member of 3 factions - Minutemen, BoS, and Railroad. I am what I would call the second stage of membership with the first two.

I've capture the Castle and had the Prydwyn appear and done the quests with that I can which are now paused for finding the Institute, which is my next storyline quest.

[BillJasper]

At close to 50 hours, I'm burnt out on Fallout. Figure I got my money's worth out of it, especially considering my wife and son are still playing it.

Might pick it up again after its patched.

[Abe Sargent]

Question about the faction stuff: in the decision dialogue for Bros Of Steel there's something said about "no more freelancing".

Can someone confirm that joining the BoS does NOT impact the amount of side quests that you're assigned (i.e. Minutemen, Railroad, etc the factional stuff) until whatever decision points are reached considerable farther along than I am at the moment?

I'd say 75% of my gameplay thus far has been settlement related quests, with randoms & Railroad being still more than the main storyline. I'd like to explore the BoS stuff but not at the expense of the vast majority of what I've been doing.


Yup, feel free to BOS it up for a time being.

[frnk55]

At close to 50 hours, I'm burnt out on Fallout. Figure I got my money's worth out of it, especially considering my wife and son are still playing it.

Might pick it up again after its patched.
Same with me. 50 hours and I just want to play Skyrim.:) So I'm going to wait for the modders to do their magic.

[Groundhog]

I reached the point in both the BOS/Institute and Institute/Railroad paths have to cancel out one or the other. An institute quest killed my Railroad path without warning, but I was told prior to accepting an Institute mission that it would end my BOS path, and I declined.

I was planning on running with the Minutemen but I've got an annoying 'bug' where Preston Garvey is 'stuck' in Trinity Tower. He's acting like a companion right up near the top of the building, but I can't talk to him and can't progress the Minutemen missions. Annoying, but I decided to run with the BOS, which is what I ended up doing in FO3, too.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I reached the point in both the BOS/Institute and Institute/Railroad paths have to cancel out one or the other. An institute quest killed my Railroad path without warning, but I was told prior to accepting an Institute mission that it would end my BOS path, and I declined.

I was planning on running with the Minutemen but I've got an annoying 'bug' where Preston Garvey is 'stuck' in Trinity Tower. He's acting like a companion right up near the top of the building, but I can't talk to him and can't progress the Minutemen missions. Annoying, but I decided to run with the BOS, which is what I ended up doing in FO3, too.

Oddly enough, Garvey is bugged for me but in the reverse, he's stuck at Sanctuary. I can't recruit him, equip him, nothing. Any dialogue with him has been unavailable since the whole "can we retake the castle" stuff started. Finishing that didn't unstick him though :( So I still get missions from him & can report back to him (which is kinda ass-backwards if I'm the general) but that's it.

[Groundhog]

I actually think the Castle mission was the last time I interacted with him before he teleported to Trinity Tower... Not sure if you're on PC Jon, but I did some reading online and you can manually teleport NPCs, so might be worth teleporting him somewhere random and then back again, and see if it clears his behaviour. I'm going to give it a shot tonight.

[Peregrine]

Garvey has been ok for me - he spends his time farming in Sanctuary and I talk to him to get quest rewards. Haven't done the Castle mission yet though.

BTW found my favorite legendary weapon so far - missile launcher which has instigator - does double damage to anyone at full health. I renamed it Asskicker, and it does.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I actually think the Castle mission was the last time I interacted with him before he teleported to Trinity Tower... Not sure if you're on PC Jon, but I did some reading online and you can manually teleport NPCs, so might be worth teleporting him somewhere random and then back again, and see if it clears his behaviour. I'm going to give it a shot tonight.

XBone for me.

I think it's somehow connected to the presence of non-original followers in the same place ... or something.

The problem began when I sent Cait to Sanctuary and in the same sequence Garvey gave me the Castle mission. I couldn't talk to Cait either for a while, until after I finished the castle. Now she's able to have normal conversations (as is Piper who is also hanging around there) but not Garvey :/

[JonInMiddleGA]

130 hours in so far, level 45. Have moved the main story I guess three points forward, in no hurry tbh.

The repetition of the settlement quests gets a bit tedious at times. I've just had a (named) person kidnapped from the same location now for the 3rd time. The settlements are fun in theory but in practice, they feel a bit like they're overdoing the number of tasks assigned for them. And some of the locations are just downright ridiculous with the arbitrary boundaries, one that's actually in the middle of a street. Another location allowed me to place a pre-fab shack in such a way that about 25% of it is outside the boundary, so no hanging pictures on THAT wall.

There are several nice story touches scattered throughout, probably too few random NPCs to meet along the way though. Most of the good flavor stories are told through computer logs & holotapes, at least what I've come across.

[Peregrine]

95 hours in, level 40. I have some of the same issues Jon - the repetitive settlement quests where I have to clear old locations over and over again are super annoying. I ran into that same shack allowed when over the border issue too.

I just finished the USS Constitution quests - felt like that was amusing and worthwhile. I do wish there was a bit more uniqueness about some of the locations (many of which are really cool) and less just rando-raiders, but lots of the map left to explore.

[bulletsponge]

my vision now has a light greenish haze to it when i dinged lvl 44. my other characters dont have it and its not there when im in pipboy or any other veiw. also its blurry around the edges of my vision. i thought i had some disease but i only have the molerat disease i got way back 30 lvls ago. anyone else having this weird effect?

[RainMaker]

I'm enjoying the game although I'm only at Level 15 and don't have that much time put in yet. Does seem to be getting a little repetitive and I'm not really that interested in the settlement stuff.

I started over a few days ago because I wanted to try an idiot savant build. I left INT at 1 and have 2 of the idiot savant perks now. I think it's the best way to build up EXP quick. I get 5x EXP at random and if it hits on a mission it can raise you up 2 levels at once (I got like 3000 EXP for the first Brotherhood of Steel mission).

Right now I'm going with more of a sniper/stealth build. I always used to play as a gunner who just ran in and used automatic weapons so this is a change of pace.

When do you guys use your power armor? I've been kind of saving it and haven't used it yet for the most part.

[Abe Sargent]

I used my PA at first saved, it , but then when you get to rolling on money, and there are stores that Im shopping at that stock cores, it becomes full time PA.



My build in weapons was a pistol build, there are a lot of strong pistols at by the (roughly) halfway mark of the game. But then I added a unique rocket launcher to my payload because of how powerful, useful and cheap the rocket shells are.

[Bobble]

160 hours, level 53. I've recently started to move the main quest because for roleplaying reasons, it felt like I should ("yes, my son WAS kidnapped but I'm just not sure that this dresser really goes with this rug!"). I'm trying to keep a balance with all the other quests. Like some of you, I felt the settlement ones were demanding too much of my time until I decided not to rush back and tell Preston Garvey when I finished. I think I've got 4 quests finished for him but I'm holding off telling him 'cause I don't want to trigger 4 more new ones. I just wish they'd tell me which ones are time-sensitive.

Like a lot of people, I'm collecting power armors in various flavors. I don't use them unless it's a specific situation where I expect a heavy fight. I don't like just walking around in power armor "wasting" fusion cores (even though I have, like, 76 of them).

I don't know what I ever did before getting the Strong Back perk at level 4. I'm a hoarder. I love a good telephone. I'm walking around with a bunch of weapons thinking that each one would be perfect in a certain circumstance and I just end up toggling between two depending on ammo supplies and hauling stuff back to Sanctuary all the time.

My roleplaying self feels better with Codsworth (or other non-living companions) 'cause I can better justify them not being able to be killed. They'll survive that grenade I just lobbed in there at close proximity. They just shut down for a minute. They get me back, though. They're perfectly willing to lob a molotov when bad guys are anywhere near me.

@bulletsponge No green effect. It ain't easy being green. Obviously, make sure your Pipboy light isn't on.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I just finished the USS Constitution quests - felt like that was amusing and worthwhile.

I had to laugh a bit there ... that's exactly what I'm doing atm. On presumably the final one.

[Peregrine]

As for power armor, I'm still mostly saving it for tougher fights. I have a bunch of fusion cores and can buy more if I need but I like to feel that my "regular" armor set is valuable too especially with all the armorer perks I bought.

There's something about walking around with power armor and a missile launcher which makes you feel like the king of the world though.

[JonInMiddleGA]

As for power armor, I'm still mostly saving it for tougher fights. I have a bunch of fusion cores and can buy more if I need but I like to feel that my "regular" armor set is valuable too especially with all the armorer perks I bought.

There's something about walking around with power armor and a missile launcher which makes you feel like the king of the world though.

I've used power armor three times so far.
1) Once in the set piece that introduces it.
2) After getting my ass kicked in a quest where I needed stealth & patience in the middle of heavy radioactive location.
3) In the main quest line when you go find a guy who doesn't mind a LOT of radiation (trying to word that mostly spoiler free)

That's been it for me. It's pretty much a really fancy haz mat suit as I've used it to this point.